10 Practical Camping Hacks

To help you celebrate National Camping Month this June, we’ve put together a collection of practical tips and tricks you can use to make your life a bit easier on your next camping trip:

1. Bring Boredom Busters for the Kids

On her blog Creativecapitalb.com, blogger Sky shares some games, activities and craft projects to keep the kids busy on your next camping trip. Just prepack the supplies for each activity in a zip-top bag, place the bags in a basket and you’re ready to go!

2. Keep Bugs Out of Your Drinks

Let’s face it, it’s pretty annoying to find a bug floating in your lemonade. Mavis, who writes the blog Onehundreddollarsamonth.com offers a clever and creative way to keep that from happening by using a combination of Mason jars and colorful cupcake liners.

3. Store Your Paper Products Efficiently

A blogger named Becky who writes the blog Organizingmadefun.com came up with a clever dollar store solution for keeping paper plates and napkins organized in your RV.

4. Stick with Duct Tape

Duct tape has so many uses around the campsite. It comes in handy for making quick repairs and has other practical uses like providing an easy way to remove ticks from clothing. To save space when you’re packing for your trip, wrap strips of duct tape around your flashlights and water bottles so the tape will be handy whenever you need it.

5. Make Your Campsite Glow

Carissa, who writes the blog Creativegreenliving.com, has a fun idea for making table lanterns with simple supplies like glow sticks and glass jars.

6. Try Edible Kindling

Believe it or not, corn chips like Doritos or Fritos make great kindling (that is, if you can resist the temptation to eat them). The reason is that the oil used to make the chips helps get the fire going.

7. Save Your Soap

Instead of hauling a full bar of soap back and forth to the shower, use your vegetable peeler to make “single-use” slices.

8. Start Your Grill in an Eggstra-Efficient Way

Save your cardboard egg cartons and place a piece of charcoal in each compartment. The cardboard carton will serve as kindling to get your grill off to a fast start.

9. Pre-scramble Your Eggs

Speaking of eggs, to save space (and avoid arriving at the campsite with cracked eggs), pre-scramble your eggs and use a funnel to put them into a container like a plastic water bottle or store them in a zip-top bag.

10. Save Your Electronics

When you’re packing for your next camping trip, remember to toss in a zip-top bag filled with uncooked rice. It will come in handy if your cell phone or another electronic device gets wet. If that happens, just place the device in the bag and the rice will absorb the excess moisture.

Find Your Next Camping Destination

Use our “Find a Park” feature to find a great place to go on your next camping trip. You can search by state, city or campground name and even narrow your search to find parks with the amenities and services you need.